Tag: tulli

In the last installment of the gringa’s examination of “evidence” used by ufologists and ancient alien theorists to assert that ancient Egypt had extra-terrestrial contact or were extra-terrestrial hybrids, I explored the theories and ideas associated with the Tulli papyrus. Rather than perceive the dubious document as an ancient Egyptian record of a sighting of mass UFO visitation, the gringa interpreted the astronomical event to be a near fly-by of a comet cluster. So, the obvious next question is, “Were there any comets in Earth’s vicinity around the time of 1480BC or thereabouts?”

Even though expert translators dated the Tulli papyrus to 1480BC there is definitely room for error where that date is concerned. They could not definitively attribute it to the reign of Thutmosis III. They also did not have access to the alleged original papyrus to conduct Carbon 14 dating or any other diagnotic tests to determine its age. So, the gringa goes with the “1480BC or thereabouts” timeline.

When the gringa allows a bit of fluidity in the timeline, things do, indeed, get interesting. There seems to be astronomical and historical records to support a comet cluster or massive comet with a large tail. Author Graham Phillips asserts in his book, “The End of Eden”, that an extraordinary comet event occurred which the civilizations of Earth reacted to with awe and fear in 1486BC.

Confirming the 1486BC comet event are Chinese court records of observation of a comet with ten tails during this same time period. The Chinese record is preserved on a swath of silk, the Mawangdui Silk Almanac, and is preserved in Changsha, China at the Hunan Provincial Museum. This court record was discovered in the 1970s in a tomb and was part of an almanac of astronomical records. The almanac was dated to about 300BC and included an entry for the ten tailed comet of 1486BC.

The significance of this event is that it changed religious history in China as well as Egypt and could very well have been the catalyst for years of war and conquest that ensued throughout Asia, India and Egypt after it appeared. Monotheism worshipping a single great god began to be practiced in China and Egypt. Ancient glyphs depicting what appears to be the same comet appear in China and Egypt:

Chinese Lao-Tien-Yeh glyph

Egyptian glyph of Aten

Considering that the Tulli papyrus recorded that the event was smelly and rained down fish and “volatiles” (the gringa supposes this would mean objects that were considered to have been burned, were on fire, hot or smelled sulphurous), if it was a comet fly-by, this would have been caused by tail debris breaking loose and passing through Earth’s atmosphere and raining down upon Egypt with large pieces impacting the rivers thus throwing up fish. Are there comets capable of this?

From 467BC-466BC ancient Greek celestial records report that a comet, possibly Halley’s comet, passed Earth. The Greek records indicate that a great meteorite impacted the northern region of Greece. Could this have really occurred? Does Halley’s Comet get close enough to Earth for tail debris to possibly be affected by Earth’s gravity, break away, enter the atmosphere, and, ultimately, if it doesn’t burn up during entry, impact the Earth?

In 1910 the New York Times reported that the tail of Halley’s Comet (it is 24 million miles long) would be traveling through Earth’s atmosphere for a duration of about six hours. It seems entirely possible that any large comet that passes near enough Earth to be seen with the naked eye, with a tail long enough that debris in the tail could enter Earth’s atmosphere, might have tail debris that could be affected by Earth’s gravity, break away and fall to Earth.

Interestingly enough Halley’s Comet has a predictable cycle and elaborate tail. It visits Earth about every 75 years. It’s earliest confirmed arrival is in Chinese astronomical records of 240BC. It is entirely possible this was the comet seen in China and Egypt 1240 years earlier in 1486BC. But there are also other comets that could have been seen:

The “Great Comet of 1744”, also known as de Cheseaux’s comet, was a magnificent 7-tailed comet observed from November, 1743 until April, 1744. During these months it shone with such brightness it was visible to the naked eye. It was rated as being the sixth brightest classification for a comet. This means that even during the day it was as bright as the Sirius star at night.

It was observed all over the world with astronomical records of the United States, France, Russia and Japan among the many nations who have official records of the comet’s sighting. Japanese records even indicate that their astronomers detected audible noises and an aurora as tail particles interacted with Earth’s magnetosphere.

The Great Comet of 1680 was visible from November, 1680 until February, 1681. Astronomers all over the world recorded this event and artists immortalized it. Official astronomical records can be found in Germany and the United States.

The Great Comet of 1882, also called the Great Comet of 1881, or the Great September Comet of 1882, or Super Comet, may very well be the brightest comet ever observed by Earthlings. Italian sailors first reported it to authorities in September, 1882. It grew brighter as it traveled toward the Sun. Astronomical records from Spain called it a blazing star. Eventually it broke into four sections and could be observed for weeks as a bright heavenly object with a luminous tail.

With all of this data on comets and historical records confirming observances in China during the same event recorded on the Tulli papyrus, the gringa’s belief that the Tulli papyrus recorded a comet event is now stronger than ever.

Ufologists and Ancient Alien theorists use as supporting evidence for their beliefs something called the “Tulli Papyrus”. They claim it is an ancient Egyptian record of a mass sighting of UFOs. Is the translation accurate? Is the artifact genuine? Authentic? True? Real? Well, dear reader, please join the gringa in the discovery of what we can determine to be true.

The original document is alleged to be a record dating back to the era of the reign of Thutmose III which would be around 1480BC. The gringa is then curious as to what else was going on in the world around that time. I mean, if extra-terrestrials were so interested in Earthlings, would they have only buzzed the pyramids? Were there any other curious civilizations that may have been worth a peek?

Earth, 1480BC or thereabouts

1575BC Baby Moses discovered and adopted by Hatsheput who later became Egyptian Queen of Thutmose II; Hatsheput ruled Egypt for 22 years after her husband’s death

1500BC – Aryans establish the Vedic civilization in India (The Aryans, from central Asia, spoke an Indo-European language and brought a polytheistic religion and religious literature known as the Vedas)

1500BC-1400BC – The Rigveda, a Vedic Sanskrit religious poem or hym, is composed; Battle of the 10 Kings: Battle memorialized in the Rigveda; Mumum Pottery Period of Korea begins centered around an Asian culture noted for its simple pottery, elaborate burials and agriculture of millet, beans and rice.

1481BC – Lunar eclipse period Saros 43 begins. During this cycle (which lasts about 18 years) 85 lunar eclipses occurred within about 2 1/2 years with an average of about three eclipses monthly. The longest one lasted almost 2 hours, shortest one lasted about half an hour. During this cycle

1480BC Egyptian Queen dies and is succeeded by her stepson/nephew Thutmosis III. In his hatred of her he destroys her monuments and erases her name from official records. He seeks to kill Moses, her adopted son, who escapes to the desert. Thutmosis III begins the expansion period, conquering Palestine & Syria, claiming geography from the Upper Nile to the Euphrates

Ancient Egyptians were dedicated to keeping detailed written records. So what exactly did Thutmose III record on this “Tulli” papyrus? Where was this artifact found? What exactly was it? Who translated it? What does it mean? The gringa just has to know these things before I accept someone else telling me it’s a record of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s eyewitness account of UFO visitation.

In 1933 a fellow by the name of Alberto Tulli visited Cairo. He worked for the Vatican Museum in the department of Egyptian antiquities. So, he was on the hunt for something interesting for the museum. He visited an antique shop, which was common practice in the old days when searching for antiquities. Tomb raiding was still going on so artifacts from ancient tombs would be sold to antique shops by the sticky-fingered burglars of all things old.

Tulli found a document he wanted to buy but the price was too steep. So, he did the next best thing, he copied the text of the document. Yes, Tulli was a plagiarist. That’s one strike against him in the gringa’s book. The gringa says, “Uh oh. So, there is no original to compare the translation with. Mm hmm. Red flag of doubt number one raised quite high.” So, Tulli claims he copied down the original hieratic script which then would have been translated into hieroglyphics and then translated into the language of your choice. So, basically a third hand copy of a document of dubious existence. Many of the present translations in English, as well as other languages, are filled with gaps where it is obvious that content has been deleted and no explanation has been given.

Twenty years later Italian Prince Boris de Rachewiltz claimed to be in possession of the original document. He said that he found it among papers belonging to the now deceased Tulli. He appointed renowned Egyptologist Etienne Drioton with the task of translating and transcribing the original document. Drioton was an expert Egyptologist on staff at the Cairo Museum as well as author of his own independent research and work, often being consulted by others worldwide on ancient Egyptian history and translation.

Translation of the document revealed that nothing within it could designate it as originating with Thutmose III’s dynasty. Experts accept the credibility and quality of the translation, however and do not consider it to be a hoax. Although the document is called a papyrus, it is not actually a papyrus. The original document in Rachewiltz’ possession was only the “original” copy made by Tulli of the papyrus he claimed to have found in the antique store. So, that takes us back to the original dilemma of having nothing to authenticate what Tulli wrote down. The world has only Tulli’s claim that he copied these words from an authentic papyrus and the Prince’s claim that he had found it. So, what was it Tulli wrote down that is so sensational? I have chosen anthropologist R. Cedric Leonard’s translation because it is closer to modern English:

“In the year 22, of the third month of winter, sixth hour of the day (big blank space)… among the scribes of the House of Life it was found that a strange Fiery Disk was coming in the sky. It had no head. The breath of its mouth emitted a foul odor. Its body was one rod in length and one rod in width. It had no voice. It came toward His Majesty’s house. Their hearts became confused through it, and they fell upon their bellies. They [went] to the king, to report it. His Majesty [ordered that] the scrolls [located] in the House of Life be consulted. His Majesty meditated on all these events which were now going on.

After several days had passed, they became more numerous in the sky than ever. They shined in the sky more than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of heaven (big blank space)… Power was the position of the Fiery Disk.

The army of the King looked on, with His Majesty in their midst. It was after the evening meal when the Disks ascended even higher in the sky to the south. Fish and other volatiles rained down from the sky: a marvel never before known since the foundation of the country. And His Majesty caused incense to be brought to appease the heart of Amun-Re, the god of the Two Lands. And it was [ordered] that the events [be recorded for] His Majesty in the Annals of the House of Life [to be remembered] for ever.”

When the credibility of the Tulli papyrus was tested, investigation began by Gianfranco Nolli who was Inspector to Egyptian Vatican Museum. He reported that the Tulli Papyrus was not Vatican property and could offer no suggestion as to the original document’s location. Dr. Walter Ramberg, Scientific Attache with Rome’s U.S. Embassy responded that Tulli’s original copy was presumed to be among documents bequeathed to his brother, a priest, after his death. However, upon the death of Tulli’s brother, the document became lost as his belongings were eventually dispersed among family members.

So, an original copy of a presumed authentic antiquity does not even exist. The case grows even more tenuous. The only credibility for this testament now lies in the word of Prince de Rachelwitz who had the document translated by Drioton. So, the question now is, “Did the darn thing ever exist in the first place?”

Well, the gringa will give ol’ Rachelwitz and Tulli the benefit of the doubt and just assume that, once upon a time, that papyrus in the antique shop was the real deal. But when the gringa reads the translation, I don’t see images of UFOs. I see images of a comet.

Ancient Egyptians were master astronomers. Around 1450BC ancient Egyptians began using sundials and had been constructing sun-aligned temples since 2000BC. They were expert stargazers along with their Babylonian neighbors. The gringa believes they would know the difference between a mass sighting of UFOs and a comet. Please follow my trains of thought:

“A strange Fiery Disk was coming in the sky…” A fireball is seen in the heavens approaching. It is described as a disk because, from the Egyptian’s vantage point, they could not tell that it was a sphere, only two dimensional, round and flat.

“It had no head. The breath of its mouth emitted a foul odor. Its body was one rod in length and one rod in width…” It was circular, hence no “head”. It smelled bad. Astronomers and scientists have concluded that comets are smelly. With many containing things like ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, formaldehyde, and methanol, if Egypt experienced a massive comet fly-by very near Earth and raining down tail debris that broke away and entered Earth’s atmosphere to eventually shower the region, Egypt’s air probably smelled like a dead man’s fart. An ancient Egyptian “rod” measures, roughly, about 520 millimeters (or 20 inches). Um, not a very big and threatening UFO. Certainly the ancient Egyptians were squinting their eyes and holding a measuring rod up to the sky to measure the fireball in the background.

“After several days had passed, they became more numerous in the sky than ever. They shined in the sky more than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of heaven (big blank space)… Power was the position of the Fiery Disks.” This astronomical event lasted for days which is common when a comet passes near enough Earth to be seen by the naked eye or a telescope. The comet or meteorites were numerous and could be seen during the day as they burned up in the atmosphere. They filled the sky and could be seen in every direction. The largest, or “mother” of the comet cluster was oriented in the East (position of power).

“It was after the evening meal when the Disks ascended even higher in the sky to the south…” Within one day the orientation of the “mother” comet had traveled from the Eastern horizon to the Southern horizon, appearing higher (smaller) as it traveled further away.

“Fish and other volatiles rained down from the sky…” The gringa suspects that some tail debris of the comet crashed into the Nile and/or Euprates and the impact blew fish up into the air and they rained down upon the Egyptians.

So, the gringa does not think that, even if this record is authentic, that it is evidence of UFO visitation with ancient Egypt. What I believe is that there was a very close fly-by event of a comet or comet cluster. It came so close to Earth’s atmosphere that some of the debris in the tail section broke away, much of it burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. However, there were some bits that were incredibly large and at least one that impacted the Nile or Euphrates Rivers. The impact was so powerful that the splashback ejected fish into the air that rained down upon the area.

And just like the raining down of Egyptian fish, the gringa is very sorry to be a UFO party pooper, raining on the dear reader’s parade of the ancient Egyptian/extra-terrestrial connection. However, to be fair, I am still digging through the “evidence” to see if at least one item could create an “AHA!” moment. Stay tuned.